Known in the art are various inertial devices for separating gases from solid particles such as: cyclones which make use of centrifugal effect arising from rotation of the dust laden gas flow; particular separators, in which separation is achieved by bending the dust laden gas flow so that the particle inertia carries the particles into the capture area (see, for example, J. P. Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,439); louvered collectors, in which the dust laden gas flow changes the direction, and the particles impinge on the deflection surfaces and concentrate in a predetermined downstream area (see, for example, J. Bakharev, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,305); particulate separator, which incorporates means such as venturi for directing the particles into a predominated location in the flow, and the screens-filters located downstream of the director for entrapment of the particles (D. Endicott, U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,012).
All the inertial devices heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages, for example:
(a) Their cleaning efficiency is often not high enough to meet air pollution control requirements. To obtain the desired degree of air purification two or three devices have to be connected in series, which increases both the equipment costs and the energy expenditure (the latter is directly due to the increase in a pressure drop experienced by the gas flow as it progresses through the device). PA1 (b) Separating gases from dust is accompanied with the interaction between solid particles and the walls of the device and/or other surfaces. For example, in cyclones the gas flow is rotating such that the particle inertia presses and chafes particles against the wall. In the louvered collectors the incoming particles impinge on the particle-deflecting elements, such as conical rings, which leads to considerable ring wear over a period of time, thus necessitating frequent ring replacement and device downtime. PA1 (c) The interaction mentioned above has resulted not only in the concentration of the particles in the predetermined area due to directing of their ordered motion, but also in the increase in the random motion of the particles, which causes the particles to tend to escape from the predetermined area to the cleaned gas flow. As a result, the cleaning efficiency does not uniformly increase up with increases in the gas flow velocity through the device, as it is suggested in theory, but passes a maximum (which depends on the type of device being used), then drops, sometimes abruptly. For this reason, the devices known heretofore work at relatively low gas flow velocities which are 30 m/s at most. The higher velocities are generally desirable, since the throughput capacity of the device is directly proportional to the velocity. PA1 (d) The conical louvered collectors with the high cleaning efficiency known heretofore require precise workmanship, and thus involves significant cost increase. For example, the device according to the Bakharev patent which is claimed to produce the cleaning efficiency of up to the 95% requires a plurality of rings which are finished to size by turning accuracy of up to 0.1 mm. PA1 (e) Because of the presence of the screens-filters in the particulate separator (see the Endicott patent), the pressure drop through the device increases. In addition, the filters of fine mesh require recurrent refinements. As a result, the maintenance charges increase. The particulate separator being used for the dust laden gas cleaning does not produce high enough cleaning efficiencies. Although it is not specified in the patent and the cleaning efficiency is not mentioned, the solid particles inevitably impinge on screens-filters and change the direction, thus mixing with the cleaned gas. PA1 to provide a device with a considerably higher throughput capacity than the known inertial devices, because it will operate at the very high velocities of the gas flow through the device, which could reach the speed of sound; PA1 to provide a device which is much cheaper than known inertial devices, because it could be manufactured by stamping from metal sheet (without requiring to use precise turning); and PA1 to provide a device having no considerable maintenance charges due to recurrent refinements.